The field of the present invention is conveyors for produce and particularly those which include components for off loading selected units of produce therefrom.
Produce handling for the discrimination and separation of product units has long been undertaken. Such discrimination has been based on size, ripeness, color, blemishes and the like. Until recent times, this activity was generally undertaken by manual labor. The versatility of workers for handling and processing large amounts and varieties of produce has generally been unsurpassed. Such processing systems generally include conveyors passing work stations where workers were able to distinguish and separate produce units. Such labor was generally inexpensive and seasonal. However, difficulties in finding experienced seasonal workers and the normal administrative problems associated with the fluctuating work force have long created a need for less labor intensive systems.
More recently, high-speed electronics and sophisticated software have been providing increasing sensing capability for detecting size and condition of individual produce units and rapidly activating responsive mechanisms to separate such units. Such electronic systems are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,018,864; 5,106,195; 5,156,278; 5,223,917; 5,286,980; 5,401,954; 6,369,892; and 6,400,833 to Gerald R. Richert et al. The disclosures of the foregoing patents are incorporated herein by reference. However, such systems require a more exacting placement of the product units than required for manual inspection and separation. Further, such systems are additionally advantaged by operational features allowing orientation and reorientation of product units and means for quickly but gently separately off-loading units one from another. The demands for such exacting placement, control and orientation are more stringent than for manual processing.
Conveying systems generally capable of presenting produce in appropriate orientations and reorientations and having means for selectively off loading produce units without damage are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,029,692; 5,181,596; 5,195,628; 5,215,179; 5,474,167; and 5,988,351 to A. James Warkentin. The disclosures of the foregoing patents are incorporated herein by reference.
The foregoing conveying systems have great utility across a wide range of produce. The systems have found utility in sizes ranging from cherry tomatoes to melons. However, the substantial size of produce such as watermelons are not as conveniently processed on such equipment and require a great deal of room because of the individual unit size and structural support for the weight.